“She turned to me and said RUN!”: Devastated husband reveals wife’s last words before brutal rape and murder on Caribbean island

‘She turned to me and said RUN!’ Husband of American tourist who was dragged off a Grenada beach into the jungle and raped and beaten to death by a local gang member breaks his silence on the tragic murder

-Jessica Colker, 39, was found sexually assaulted, strangled and clubbed to death, in Grenada in January 2016

-She was on holiday with her husband Brian Melito when David Benjamin, 29, a tattooed gang member, wielded a machete and forced her to come with him

-Melito, now 64, spoke about his wife’s murder for the first time in an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV, saying he misses her dearly

-‘He took one of most angelic people from this earth. He took something away that can never be replaced, ever,’ he said

-Benjamin, known by the street name ‘Giant’, denied his guilt for two years before changing his plea in January; he was sentenced to life in prison

-The murderer had put a knife to Colker’s throat and took her into the jungle with Melito following, offering money to the criminal

-The widower said: ‘At some point Jess just turned to me and said ”run”‘

-‘I’m just forever regretting actually that that’s the course I took. But I followed her instruction and said I’ll be back’

-Melito lives alone in Lambertville, New Jersey, with his rescue dog Dexter, and said: ‘In one moment pretty much all of my dreams and aspirations disappeared’

Jessica Colker, 39, was enjoying the first day of her holiday in Grenada with her husband, Brian Melito, when she was confronted by a convicted rapist who emerged from the jungle armed with a machete.

In January, David Benjamin was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of murder – almost two years on from Jessica’s death.

The murder of Jessica, a 39-year-old anesthesiologist from Atlanta, US, horrified the world when she was hacked to death on January 24 in 2016.

Widower Brian, 64, has now spoken for the first time about his wife’s brutal death and revealed her final words were aimed at getting him to safety as he pursued Benjamin in the jungle.

Speaking to Daily Mail TV , Brian said Benjamin growled ‘come with me’ as he pressed a blade to Jessica’s throat and led her from the beach where the couple had been on a stroll.

After his offer to give away cash was rejected, he said he followed as his wife was pulled into the jungle and considered using a rock or stick as a weapon to help release her.

But he feared Benjamin, who he described as a “very sad individual”, would kill them both if he failed to stop him.

As the pair were lured deeper into the jungle, his wife turned to him and told him to “run”, advice he now wishes he ignored.

Brian told the Daily Mail: “At some point Jess just turned to me and said ”run” – I guess I hadn’t thought of that.

“So I took about two seconds to think about what she had said and she usually thinks through things faster than me and comes up with the right answer.

“But this is one answer I wish I had ignored – I’m just forever regretting actually that that’s the course I took. I followed her instruction and said I’ll be back.”

Brian said he sprinted back to alert hotel staff in La Sagesse, who called police and then raced to search Jessica.

Brian told the Daily Mail: “At some point Jess just turned to me and said ”run” – I guess I hadn’t thought of that.

“So I took about two seconds to think about what she had said and she usually thinks through things faster than me and comes up with the right answer.

“But this is one answer I wish I had ignored – I’m just forever regretting actually that that’s the course I took. I followed her instruction and said I’ll be back.”

Brian said he sprinted back to alert hotel staff in La Sagesse, who called police and then raced to search Jessica.

Paying tribute to his wife, who he described as “possibly the most intelligent” person, Brian said he felt he was “one of the luckiest people in the world” after they met in February 2013 at a dance workshop in Costa Rica.

A whirlwind romance soon followed as Brian admitted he became convinced he met the love of his life, it was reported.